Well, it didn't take long for the spam to appear on my blog - just a week or two after I enabled comments. At least I now know that someone (or some spider) has spotted my blog (oh, and there's Merryn as well!).
*[CAPTCHA]: Completely Automated Public Turing test to tell Computers and Humans Apart
My blog looked great when I saw it today - comments on each and every blog entry. This is where the dilemma comes from. I could delete the spam comments, which advertise online poker and insurance, and add CAPTCHAs to my forms, or I could leave the comments there and bask in the fake glory of having such a popular blog, at least with spammers. Spammers who are kind enough to leave insightful comments such as the following:
Submitted by homeowners insurance (not verified) on July 1, 2008 - 12:14am.
aon4d2d-qfeguof-tw6q51c7-0 <a href="http://urlser.com/?IQpnn#2">car insurance quotesM</a>
http://urlser.com/?m6c0v#1
[url=http://online-gambling-mo.lookera.net#3]online gambling[/url]
[url]http://urlser.com/?boo2X#4[/url]
[http://free-poker-mo.lookera.net#5 free poker]
"texas holdem":http://texas-holdem-mo.lookera.net#6
[LINK http://urlser.com/?e64r6#7]car insurance[/LINK]
[img]http://victor.freewebhostingpro.com/1.php[/img]
Submitted by car insurance (not verified) on July 1, 2008 - 12:20am.
3b19rvq-y1nj0au-tw6q687a-0 <a href="http://urlser.com/?5Nnno#2">progressive insurance</a>
http://urlser.com/?aBCA5#1
[url=http://best-online-casino-mo.lookera.net#3]best online casino[/url]
[url]http://urlser.com/?boo2X#4[/url]
[http://online-casino-gambling-mo.lookera.net#5 online casino gambling]
"online poker":http://online-poker-mo.lookera.net#6
[LINK http://urlser.com/?qbKvI#7]health insurance[/LINK]
[img]http://victor.freewebhostingpro.com/1.php[/img]
Submitted by black jack (not verified) on July 1, 2008 - 3:56am.
4331vd1-s5jy4k1-tw6qaabd-0 <a href="http://black-jack-mo.lookera.net#2">black jack</a>
http://urlser.com/?IQpnn#1
[url=http://free-poker-mo.lookera.net#3]free poker[/url]
[url]http://texas-holdem-mo.lookera.net#4[/url]
[http://urlser.com/?IQpnn#5 car insurance quotes]
"roulette":http://roulette-mo.lookera.net#6
[LINK http://urlser.com/?aBCA5#7]homeowners insurance[/LINK]
[img]http://victor.freewebhostingpro.com/1.php[/img]
Submitted by best online casino (not verified) on July 1, 2008 - 12:14am.
qwk4cgg-n4jvr9l-tw6q51c7-0 <a href="http://urlser.com/?nm4rK#1" title="http://urlser.com/?nm4rK#1">http://urlser.com/?nm4rK#1</a>
homeowners insurance
[url=http://urlser.com/?DYEVZ#3]insurance quotes[/url]
[url]http://texas-holdem-mo.lookera.net#4[/url]
[http://roulette-mo.lookera.net#5 roulette]
"auto insurance":http://urlser.com/?m6c0v#6
[LINK http://gambling-mo.lookera.net#7]gambling[/LINK]
[img]http://victor.freewebhostingpro.com/1.php[/img]
Submitted by life insurance (not verified) on July 1, 2008 - 3:56am.
6yzt7f9-bbxagx5-tw6q5db6-0 <a href="http://urlser.com/?m6c0v#2">auto insurance</a>
http://online-casino-gambling-mo.lookera.net#1
[url=http://online-gambling-mo.lookera.net#3]online gambling[/url]
[url]http://best-online-casino-mo.lookera.net#4[/url]
[http://online-poker-mo.lookera.net#5 online poker]
"online casino gambling":http://online-casino-gambling-mo.lookera.net#6
[LINK http://urlser.com/?m6c0v#7]auto insurance[/LINK]
[img]http://victor.freewebhostingpro.com/1.php[/img]
It's interesting to see the different mark-up used to try and ensure that the comments will create links in different blog software. I wonder which of them works for which software?
Well, I'm sure you can guess which option I went for. So apologies if there is anyone out there who would like to leave a legitimate comment on my site - from now on you're going to be asked a random, probably silly, question to prove that you're human. On the plus side, I've set it up so that you should only be asked once per visit.